UAE prevents Yemen Prime Minister from leaving island

Yemeni government sources said on Friday that the UAE has occupied an island in the Red Sea and prevented Prime Minister Ahmed Bin Daghr from leaving, Anadolu has reported. A senior Saudi delegation has apparently arrived on Socotra in an effort to sort out the crisis between the UAE and the internationally-recognised Yemeni government.

According to Al Jazeera, Yemeni sources say that the UAE occupied the port and airport on the island just one day after deploying more than 100 troops there. Ben Daghr was on Socotra along with a government delegation in order to prepare for and open a number of development projects.

Read: UAE is leading a ‘coup’ in south Yemen, says Yemen’s President Hadi

The Saudi delegation arrived after contacts between Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and the government in Riyadh. According to the sources, the UAE troops removed the Yemeni staff from the airport and port on Socotra and imposed their control over the two facilities.

The UAE is part of the Saudi-led coalition that was formed to help the Yemeni government. The differences between the two sides started last year when Hadi removed a governor supported by the UAE from his post.